Stage Hosts

A really important part of the New Bedford Folk Festival are our wonderful Stage Hosts.

And, here they are:

Art Tebbetts

Main Stage HostOn our Main Stage, which is in the Zeiterion Performing Arts Theater, is the fabulous, New Bedford’s own troubadour, Mr. Art Tebbetts. Also a performer who will be in a workshop, Art has been with us since the beginning. This is his 24th year of hosting the Main Stage…way back when our Main Stage was on the loading dock on the State Pier.

Chris Pahud

Main Stage HostJoining Art Tebbetts on our Main Stage in the Zeiterion Performing Arts Theatre, is Chris Pahud. Chris has worked with Art on Main Stage for a number of years taking last year off to perform at a festival in Switzerland. We are delighted that he is back with us. Chris has been performing on the coffeehouse circuit with his warm bass/baritone voice and acoustic guitar since the 1990’s. Chris will be in a workshop as well as a showcase over the weekend.

Barnes Newberry

A veteran of 12 plus years working for an NPR all-music affiliate in Boston, Barnes Newberry now brings his love of 60’s and 70’s folk and folk-rock to WMVY radio. Schooled in the early days of those genres along with the singer-songwriter, country rock and blues movements, he created a specialty show in 2000 called Highway 61 Revisited that drew from mostly US, UK and Canadian artists that populated the commercial and underground airwaves back in the days of both AM and FM “underground” radio. Continuing in this field, he hosts now My Back Pages online podcast on WMVY. For the past few years and continuing this year, Barnes hosts our Custom House Stage along with Nick Noble. Yes, that would be Barnes and Noble!

Nick Noble

Music has been important to Nick Noble since he was an adorable choirboy in New York City almost fifty years ago. For the past eleven years, he has hosted the weekly FOLK REVIVAL program on Worcester Public Radio (WICN), celebrating the great folk music of the past while passionately supporting local musicians today. In 2015 Nick won the Pulse Magazine Worcester Music Award as best Radio DJ in Central Massachusetts (he has, to date, been nominated 8 times)*. On October 12, 2017, he celebrated his 500th show with a four-hour-plus live broadcast before a studio audience featuring two dozen local New England artists. As part of the team of Barnes and Noble, Nick will be hosting the Custom House stage with Barnes Newberry. This is the third year that Nick has been a stage host at NBFF.

Naomi Arenberg

Hosting our Meet the Performer Stage, located in the Seaman’s Bethel on Johnny Cake Hill, Naomi Arenberg has been hosting stages at the festival for many years. Naomi worked for WGBH for 20 years, including a 11 year run at WCAI as host for All Things Considered. Naomi now teaches a course on radio production at Cape Cod Community College as well as being a journalist for Public Radio International’s Living on Earth program.

Mary Beth Soares

A licensed acupunturist, Mary Beth’s alternate career is as a performer. She was a third of the group, Tesseract3, along with Joanne Doherty and Joan Akin. MaryBeth now performers as a duo with singer Dave Perreira. Mary Beth has been an important part of the success of the Southcoast Stage. Located on Purchase Street, the Southcoast Stage highlights some of the fabulous talent from the Southcoast. MaryBeth is one of the featured performers and keeps this stage working smoothly.

Chuck Williams

Our Whaling Museum Stage Host, Chuck is also a featured performer on the Southcoast Stage. Chuck has been appearing throughout New England and in recent years has gone coast to coast with his music. His writing has been gaining notice throughout song circles and he has earned several awards for his finely tuned craft. He has been traveling to coffeehouses, performing arts centers and festivals sowing seeds of his songs along the way.